Democrats blast Army on GI care

General sacked as commander at Walter Reed

March 02, 2007|By Mike Dorning, Washington Bureau.

WASHINGTON — The two-star general in charge of Walter Reed Army Medical Center was ousted Thursday as criticism mounted from Democratic lawmakers over revelations that soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan were housed among mice, cockroaches, mold and rot.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois denounced the treatment as "scandalous" as he introduced legislation to require improvements in military outpatient housing and outside inspections of facilities for wounded soldiers.

"The higher-ups in charge of this should have addressed this, and the fact that they didn't is shameful," Obama said.

"Not enough has been done to assist these courageous men and women in recovering from the wounds of battle," Clinton said. "We must know what Army leaders knew, when they knew it and why they failed to take corrective actions."

The Washington Post, which last week disclosed dingy housing conditions for wounded soldiers in outpatient care and their families, reported earlier Thursday that the hospital's command had been aware of the substandard situation for more than three years. Soldiers with brain injuries, severed arms and legs, damaged organs and backs and post-traumatic stress have spent up to two years in the outpatient housing, enduring official neglect and crushing bureaucracy, according to the newspaper.

The storm of criticism and the rapid removal of Maj. Gen. George Weightman, who was commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command as well as Walter Reed hospital, comes at a moment when public and political attention has shifted to inadequate care of wounded soldiers.

In addition to The Washington Post's investigation of the Army's premier medical institution, the current Newsweek magazine cover story, "Failing Our Wounded," found wounded Iraq veterans waiting weeks or months for medical appointments and families sliding into debt while overloaded bureaucrats studied their disability claims for months on end.

Former ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, who suffered serious brain injuries from an explosion while on assignment in Iraq, returned to the air Tuesday night with a documentary showing brain-injured Iraq veterans regressing in their recoveries because of inadequate follow-up treatment from the veterans' health-care system.

Democrats pressure Bush

With both the House and the Senate in Democratic control for the first time since the Iraq war began, Democrats in Congress are determined to hold the Bush administration accountable for failures in waging the war.

While party members are divided over how aggressively to use congressional authority over federal spending to limit President Bush's prosecution of the war, treatment of wounded veterans is a politically safe cause that Democrats can easily rally around while focusing attention on the costs of the unpopular war.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced that Democrats in the House would attach additional funding to address deficiencies in housing for soldiers at Walter Reed when Congress considers an emergency spending bill for the war.

"Of all of the debts owed to the men and women who serve in our military, and to their families, none is more important than to ensure that those wounded in battle are treated immediately, and for as long as is required, with all of the medical skill, compassion and effectiveness that can be brought to bear," Pelosi said. "It is clear that improvements are necessary to make certain that our national obligation is met."

Senate Democrats also used a meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Peter Pace to press the military leadership on its handling of complaints about conditions at Walter Reed.

`Lost trust and confidence'

A few hours before Gates and Pace met with the senators, Army Secretary Francis Harvey announced that he was relieving Weightman, a 1973 West Point graduate, of his command. Though a loss of command does not remove an officer from the Army, it typically forecloses future promotions.

In a brief statement, the Army said senior service leaders had "lost trust and confidence" in Weightman's leadership of Walter Reed.

Gates endorsed the dismissal of Weightman from his post.

"I don't have very much patience with people who don't step up to the plate and address problems," Gates told reporters after his meeting with senators.

Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, the commander of the U.S. Army Medical Command, will temporarily take charge of Walter Reed until a replacement is named.

Until Thursday, the Army had taken action only against low-level soldiers involved in management of outpatient care.